St. Louis Blues Recall Nikita Alexandrov; Reassign Tyler Tucker
After activating Robert Bortuzzo yesterday, the St. Louis Blues ended up with eight healthy defensemen on the roster. That was never going to last long, and today they’ve solved the problem by sending Tyler Tucker to the AHL. Nikita Alexandrov has been recalled in his place.
Tucker, 22, has played in 12 games for the Blues this season, showing he’s much more than the average seventh-round pick. The young defenseman has just one point but rarely looks overmatched, and should likely play a role on the team in the future.
For now, though, he’ll rejoin the Springfield Thunderbirds where he has 13 points in 25 games.
Alexandrov, 22, continues his yo-yo season, coming back up after just a few days. The young forward has four points in 16 games so far and should also get a bigger look down the stretch, especially if the Blues end up selling at the deadline. The 2019 second-round pick has 12 goals and 20 points in 23 games with the Thunderbirds.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Seattle Kraken Recall Max McCormick; Place Justin Schultz On IR
The Seattle Kraken have moved Justin Schultz to injured reserve, as he deals with a week-to-week designation. In his place, Max McCormick has been recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
McCormick’s recall will cast doubt on the status of Matty Beniers, who was injured last night after Tyler Myers of the Vancouver Canucks threw him to the ice. Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times reports that Beniers wasn’t available for the third period.
That’s not to say the recall is undeserved. McCormick has been outstanding for Coachella, serving as captain and scoring 42 points in 38 games so far. The 30-year-old journeyman minor leaguer has transformed his game over the years, going from a physical instigator to a legitimate top-line AHL talent.
We’ll see if some of his former self appears in the NHL though. In 93 career NHL games, McCormick has 97 penalty minutes, including nine fighting majors. In ten appearances last season for the Kraken he failed to score a point.
Arizona Coyotes Reassign Milos Kelemen
Jan 26: After making his NHL debut, Kelemen is on his way back to the minor leagues. He played just over ten minutes, recorded three hits and generated one shot on goal.
Jan 24: Last spring, the Arizona Coyotes reached an agreement with a young, undrafted forward who had found success all over Europe. Milos Kelemen signed a two-year, entry-level contract and came over to North America for his first taste of AHL action.
Now, Kelemen has been recalled to the NHL, after 39 relatively strong games with the Tucson Roadrunners.
Part of the historic Slovakian Olympic team that earned their first hockey medal last year, the 23-year-old Kelemen has 20 points in 39 games for the Roadrunners this season. The Coyotes opened some room by sending Michael Carcone back to the minors yesterday, though Matias Maccelli and Lawson Crouse are also expected to return soon from injury.
It remains to be seen whether Kelemen will actually get into a game, but he represents another chance that the Coyotes front office is willing to take as they search everywhere for young assets. Eventually, the odds are good that they will find a hidden gem to add to their stable of high draft picks.
Calgary Flames Recall Dennis Gilbert
With Chris Tanev out for at least the next couple of games, the Calgary Flames have recalled Dennis Gilbert from the minor leagues.
It’s a nice reward for Gilbert, who was recently handed a two-game suspension by the AHL for an illegal check to the head. He already served the ban, but it wouldn’t have stopped him from being recalled to the NHL anyway.
Now, he’ll join the Flames ahead of their match against the Chicago Blackhawks tonight, the first half of a back-to-back situation. Calgary is due to play in Seattle tomorrow, before heading into the All-Star break.
Gilbert has played in eight games so far, averaging just over ten minutes a game. That comes along with four fighting majors, a role he’ll likely step right back into for the Flames during this stretch.
Ottawa Senators Recall Kevin Mandolese
The Ottawa Senators lost Cam Talbot partway through last night’s game, and according to Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia, the veteran netminder will be out at least through the All-Star break. Unfortunately, he isn’t the only goaltender in the Senators organization dealing with an injury.
Both Antoine Bibeau and Mads Sogaard are hurt, meaning the only recall option was Kevin Mandolese. Garrioch reports that Anton Forsberg is expected to make both starts of the upcoming back-to-back in Toronto and Ottawa.
Mandolese, 22, hasn’t appeared in the NHL yet, and is barely even holding onto an AHL spot. Through 12 games with the Belleville Senators, he has posted an .886 save percentage. That performance has earned him some extra time in the ECHL, where he has a .927 in six games.
In short, he’s not who the Senators need in the crease right now as they continue to try and compete in the Atlantic Division. Forsberg will have to try and take down the Maple Leafs and Canadiens on his own, and the club will have to hope that Talbot can return soon after the break.
Winnipeg Jets Activate Logan Stanley
The Winnipeg Jets have activated defenseman Logan Stanley from injured reserve today, according to a team tweet. In a corresponding transaction, the Jets reassigned youngster Ville Heinola to the Manitoba Moose of the AHL.
Associate coach Scott Arniel told reporters last weekend that Stanley could return on Tuesday, and it turns out he was correct. The roster move suggests Stanley will be ready to go when Winnipeg takes on the Nashville Predators in an important divisional matchup tonight.
A pair of lower-body injuries have limited Stanley to seven NHL games this season, recording one assist in just 13:34 of ice time per game. He’s been on injured reserve with a lower-body injury since December 11 and missed 18 games earlier in the season with a fractured foot.
He’ll have to fight for minutes with another 24-year-old left-shot defenseman: Dylan Samberg. Samberg has impressed defensively in his first steady NHL season, is averaging over 15 minutes per game, and has eight points in 37 games.
Heinola, Winnipeg’s 2019 first-round pick, continues to scratch and claw for NHL time in Winnipeg. He’s played in just 10 out of Winnipeg’s 48 games and has been given little opportunity, playing 13:16 per game and recording one assist. The 21-year-old returns to Manitoba, where he has 11 points and a staggering +17 rating in just 14 games.
Detroit Red Wings Activate, Reassign Matt Luff
In November, Juraj Slafkovsky was given a two-game suspension for boarding. Unfortunately, the player he hit, Matt Luff of the Detroit Red Wings, was out much longer.
Luff needed wrist surgery and hasn’t played since. Today, he was activated by the Red Wings from injured reserve and loaned to the AHL. Despite playing seven games in the NHL, he remains waiver-exempt for the time being.
Through seven games this season, the depth forward was averaging just over eight minutes a game and had scored one goal. In the AHL, where he has always been excellent, he had seven points in five contests.
The Grand Rapids Griffins could certainly use his help. They sit 15-19-4 on the year and have only scored 103 goals in 38 games.
Sammy Blais Sent On AHL Conditioning Loan
The New York Rangers have recalled Will Cuylle from the AHL, while sending Sammy Blais back on a conditioning stint. Blais hasn’t played in a week and was receiving just a handful of shifts in the games he did play.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post wrote about Blais’ situation yesterday, suggesting that his NHL future is in jeopardy as he continues to try to contribute in any way he can. The 26-year-old is still finding his way after a serious knee injury that required surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL. He has just five points through 38 games this season, failing to score a single goal.
Blais has registered over 100 hits, his calling card during more successful days in St. Louis, but hasn’t really been making the same kind of impact with his physicality. Averaging fewer than ten minutes of ice time when he does get into the lineup, it’s unclear where his role really lies in the New York forward group.
Cuylle, meanwhile, represents the next generation for the Rangers. A 20-year-old forward that is just scratching the surface of his professional career, Cuylle has 13 goals and 20 points in 39 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack. The second-round pick offers a good deal of physicality (even if it doesn’t quite stand up to the level of Blais), and possesses a hard, accurate shot.
Given the Rangers’ recent success, it’s not clear if Cuylle will get much of an opportunity. But Blais wasn’t giving them much of anything at the moment, and will try to find that next gear with some games in the minor leagues.
Victor Soderstrom Changes Representation
While his entry-level contract doesn’t expire until the summer of 2024, Arizona Coyotes top defense prospect Victor Soderstrom has changed his agency to Quartexx Management, according to a tweet Monday night.
The 11th overall pick in 2019, Soderstrom has yet to break into the NHL full-time and hasn’t seen so much as a call-up this season. He’s had a somewhat successful offensive campaign with AHL Tucson, recording 19 points in 38 games, but even that’s lower than last season’s point pace in the minors.
While Soderstrom was never drafted as a point producer, his two-way game hasn’t quite excelled in North America as the Coyotes organization would have hoped. He is still just 21, however, and defensemen are more prone to later bumps in their development.
Quartexx also represents some young, fringe NHLers such as Detroit’s Joe Veleno and Edmonton’s Philip Broberg, who was taken three spots ahead of Soderstrom in the 2019 draft. Broberg, however, has managed to step closer to a full-time NHL role this season, appearing in 22 games with Edmonton.
Snapshots: Three Stars, Canucks, Knight
The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Zach Hyman leading the way. The Edmonton Oilers swiss army knife had four goals and nine points in three games. Hyman has already flown past the 54 points he had last season and with every point is setting a new career high. It’s been an incredible run for the 30, who has been everything the Oilers hoped for (and more) when they signed him to a seven-year, $38.5MM deal in 2021.
Second and third place went to Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Trevor Zegras of the Anaheim Ducks, two players in very different stages of their careers. Stamkos reached the 500-goal mark last week, joining just 46 other players in the history of the NHL and essentially sealing his future in the Hall of Fame (if it was ever in doubt). Zegras, meanwhile, put up eight points in four games, taking his career total to 114. He’s got quite a way to catch the Lightning captain, but Zegras continues to excite fans every time he touches the puck.
- The Vancouver Canucks now have three head coaches on the books, as they are still paying Travis Green, the bench boss that preceded the recently-fired Bruce Boudreau. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that Tocchet’s deal is for two years and carries a $2.75MM salary, meaning altogether, the team is forking out $7.5MM this season for head coaches.
- The Florida Panthers have swapped Mack Guzda and Spencer Knight once again, with the latter coming back up to the NHL. Knight hasn’t played in the NHL since January 8, but did quite well in his two-game conditioning stint, recording a 23-save shutout for the Charlotte Checkers in his first AHL game since last season.